So after playing a deck for awhile you tend to give it a nick name my nickname for my deck is Dragon Wizards. The powerful combination of Niv mizzet dracogenious and Nicol Bolas planeswalker.
This is my update to the deck for Dragons maze and boy did I get some goodies.
A whole suite of versitile removal spells. :).
The spilt cards turn//burn and far//away are just perfect for this kind of deck.. infact I am trying to find space for 1 more far//away.
Warped physique is a perfect aristocrat killer and is in a multicolour format going to be dead less than ultimate price. although I do worry about thundermaw's.
I was intending to remove all my searing spears for burns but I chickened out. there are times when that three damage is really important (olivia, hellrider, nighthawk).
I am trying out Blast of genius to replace my Devil's play.... good finnisher and probably going to be average of 5 damage to my opponent plus draw me cards.
Magmaquake.... massively underrated, yeah it doesn't hit fliers but its instant speed... I much much prefer it over rolling tremlor then a lot of people are running. Instant speed often leads to blow outs and it knocks down planeswalkers you can have trouble with sometimes.
The original deck was $50... however I have opened/traded for shocklands since then so it is more than that now. In the future I'd like to get my hands on some Aetherlings replacing lone revenants as my hard to kill creature. And I would say Ral Zarek is probably a little better than chandra.
I hope to be able to play this even past rotation but it all depends on whats in M14 (if the checklands don't return I probably wont be able to afford to replace them) and there is a serious lack of card draw options outside of innstrad.
I really like how this deck is looking, I think I will try it out. Have you thought of putting another Nephalia Drownyard and maybe a Ghost Quarter to further hurt the control match up? How has desolate lighthouse been working for you?
Great job! I've been waiting to see what you added after DGM.
At first I was convinced I would go Grixis budget but I'm not so sure anymore because Far // Away and Turn // Burn didn't do quite as much as I wanted.
The one card I want access to for though is Slaughter Games.
Have you tried a blue black primary with splash red variant before? It just happens to be where most of my dual lands are, I'll need to acquire more reds.
To play UBr I think you would want to drop the Nivs he needs the mana to make him run which is why I am running URb version. the problem is that without a heavy investment into red it will be hard to board wipe. You would have to go with Mutilate and rolling trembor basically become mostly black control instead. (dimir got really shafted this block )
Honestly if I had the money Chandra would probably be Snapcaster mage (her -2) or Ral zerek (her + 1 but better). Turn 6 triple red isn't as bad as I expected it to be and I often use it not overloaded to deal with things like Smiter.
I was using 2 Sever the bloodline and I do like the card it is good removal.
Drowyard is really awesome even if you occasionally give them free think twices, but I feel it is just 1 of many win conditions, Esper is always going to out mill me. Loothouse allows you to dig really hard and this deck does need to do that I have quite a few lands, a lot of potentially dead cards and flashback in my deck that makes it good... it is best once I have already stabilised to go and find my win conditions.
I still have 3 more slots for my sideboard and I'm not sure what to put in. As in cards I favor Psychic Strike over other counterspells because it's easier to cast color wise and it's a hard counter unlike Syncopate. I opted for Turn // Burn over Searing Spear I didn't have problems with that one extra damage yet.
And I know I have some unconventional cards in my sideboard. Breaking // Entering used to be Rise from the Grave for the Rites matchup, the haste is very helpful especially for something like Gisela. Conjured Currency is for the American matchup when their finisher is Assemble the Legion, grixis colors doesn't have any good enchantment removal so I decided to steal it instead. And the Soul Ransom is for the aggro matchup, they are usually out of cards so they can't pay the cost and their deck is usually no match for their finisher. Thundermaw Hellkite or Falkenrath Aristocrat is usually their only flier if they have it.
Really I will recount room for more split cards then, I must of missed a cards when I was transferring across....
edit: Ah ha! I missed Counterflux whille I am at it I"ll edit in my changes.. I decided warped physique wasn't quite good enough more far//aways since I have been impressed.
ok I'll drop searing spear for the full set of turn//burn. I hope to get my hands on aetherling before it shoots up in price as people discover its unbeatable... consequently pithing needles to the sideboard... even if they kill my own aetherlings.
Also I want to mention that I tried Augur of Bolas and I hate him in this deck, it might just be me but every time he enters he always shuffles lands or creatures that I need away.
I'll give another plug to the Izzet Staticaster. I run four mainboard, and couldn't be more pleased. The card does everything. It slows down aggro, chump blocking 1/x and 2/x creatures, at instant speed, and can potentially 2-for-1 block and ping something else. A single Staticaster will shut down Lingering Souls and Assemble the Legion, and when you land multiples of this guy, you don't even need sweepers anymore.
I am getting super frustrated against Voice of resurgence atm :S.. I feel like i just can't beat it with this deck. I have options but Voice decks also tend to have a ton more threats I have to deal with Boros reckonersLoxodon smiters or thragstusk etc. I am getting super low before stabilisation and getting killed by searing spear, haste creature or the voice token.
I did notice that 9th placed "The Rock" deck at the latest SCG open ran three curse of death's hold perhaps I need to return it to my deck... at least in the sideboard as it does deal with the voice token nice and cleanly.
Staticaster is in my sideboard... there are a lot of decks running bears rather than X/1's.. perhaps my deck is in need of an overhaul curse and staticaster seem rather strong together.
Return to Rakdos keyrune is also an option... but I really don't know what to cut... perhaps I decide control is dead and remove all my anti control cards from the main?. I still seem to run into control often enough atm.
missing a land drop = death which is also really sad since most of the time I have to deal with threats and don't have time to think.... twice.
and back to a negative one, I am not sure what happend.. a new store/s opened up I think.... and no one turns up for FNM constructed anymore it is only draft FNMs from now on. So I don't get a chance to properly test the deck anymore.
I think Crypt Incursion is an interesting sideboard card. Is Rites really that prevalent in your meta? Cause that's a prime spot to include all those cards you want.
I'll try out 2 curse of death's hold and see how it goes it feels like the best answer to voice.
crypt incursion is life gain and a lot of it.. but reanimator isn't as scary as it used to be. my other deck just happens to be graveyard based so I guess that wieghts the hate perhaps a little too heavily.
This is my update to the deck for Dragons maze and boy did I get some goodies.
A whole suite of versitile removal spells. :).
for reference here is my thread of the old deck
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=474368
2 augur of bolas
2 Lone revenant
2 Niv Mizzet, dracogenious
Sorcery
2 mizzium mortars
1 Sever the bloodline
1 Blast of genius
1 Blasphemous act
Instant
3 Think twice
2 Syncopate
2 Spearing spear
2 Far//away
2 Izzet charm
2 Magmaquake
2 Forbidden alchemy
2 Turn//burn
2 Counterflux
1 ultimate price
2 Chandra, the firebrand
1 Nicol bolas, planeswalker
Lands
4 dragonskull summit
2 drowned catacombs
2 steamvents
2 izzet guildgate
2 evolving wilds
1 watery grave
1 blood crypt
1 desolate lighthouse
1 nephalia drowyard
3 mountain
2 swamp
The spilt cards turn//burn and far//away are just perfect for this kind of deck.. infact I am trying to find space for 1 more far//away.
Warped physique is a perfect aristocrat killer and is in a multicolour format going to be dead less than ultimate price. although I do worry about thundermaw's.
I was intending to remove all my searing spears for burns but I chickened out. there are times when that three damage is really important (olivia, hellrider, nighthawk).
I am trying out Blast of genius to replace my Devil's play.... good finnisher and probably going to be average of 5 damage to my opponent plus draw me cards.
Magmaquake.... massively underrated, yeah it doesn't hit fliers but its instant speed... I much much prefer it over rolling tremlor then a lot of people are running. Instant speed often leads to blow outs and it knocks down planeswalkers you can have trouble with sometimes.
The original deck was $50... however I have opened/traded for shocklands since then so it is more than that now. In the future I'd like to get my hands on some Aetherlings replacing lone revenants as my hard to kill creature. And I would say Ral Zarek is probably a little better than chandra.
I hope to be able to play this even past rotation but it all depends on whats in M14 (if the checklands don't return I probably wont be able to afford to replace them) and there is a serious lack of card draw options outside of innstrad.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Standard
RDW FNM Record: 22-9-0
At first I was convinced I would go Grixis budget but I'm not so sure anymore because Far // Away and Turn // Burn didn't do quite as much as I wanted.
The one card I want access to for though is Slaughter Games.
Have you tried a blue black primary with splash red variant before? It just happens to be where most of my dual lands are, I'll need to acquire more reds.
I'm thinking of more Sever the Bloodline, Vampire Nighthawk, murder and Bloodgift Demon in place of the Chandra's, magmaquakes and 1x Dracogenius.
My fear of doing so is less horizontal removal (the triple red from Mizzium Mortar is hard to hit).
Blast of Genius has worked wonders for me in limited and I'm hoping its standard playable.
2 Slaughter games
2 Evil twin
2 Far//away
1 curse of deaths hold
2 cyrpt incursion? (grave hate of some sort)
2 Witchbane orb
To play UBr I think you would want to drop the Nivs he needs the mana to make him run which is why I am running URb version. the problem is that without a heavy investment into red it will be hard to board wipe. You would have to go with Mutilate and rolling trembor basically become mostly black control instead. (dimir got really shafted this block )
Honestly if I had the money Chandra would probably be Snapcaster mage (her -2) or Ral zerek (her + 1 but better). Turn 6 triple red isn't as bad as I expected it to be and I often use it not overloaded to deal with things like Smiter.
I was using 2 Sever the bloodline and I do like the card it is good removal.
Drowyard is really awesome even if you occasionally give them free think twices, but I feel it is just 1 of many win conditions, Esper is always going to out mill me. Loothouse allows you to dig really hard and this deck does need to do that I have quite a few lands, a lot of potentially dead cards and flashback in my deck that makes it good... it is best once I have already stabilised to go and find my win conditions.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
If you couldnt tell, i usually dont play control
Not a delver deck... that is a completely different type of deck.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Steam Vents
4 Watery Grave
1 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Swamp
Planeswalkers:
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Artifacts:
2 Rakdos Keyrune
Spells:
3 Psychic Strike
3 Dreadbore
4 Think Twice
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Magmaquake
2 Victim of Night
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Far // Away
2 Turn // Burn
2 Slaughter Games
1 Breaking // Entering
2 Pithing Needle
2 Duress
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Conjured Currency
2 Soul Ransom
I still have 3 more slots for my sideboard and I'm not sure what to put in. As in cards I favor Psychic Strike over other counterspells because it's easier to cast color wise and it's a hard counter unlike Syncopate. I opted for Turn // Burn over Searing Spear I didn't have problems with that one extra damage yet.
And I know I have some unconventional cards in my sideboard. Breaking // Entering used to be Rise from the Grave for the Rites matchup, the haste is very helpful especially for something like Gisela. Conjured Currency is for the American matchup when their finisher is Assemble the Legion, grixis colors doesn't have any good enchantment removal so I decided to steal it instead. And the Soul Ransom is for the aggro matchup, they are usually out of cards so they can't pay the cost and their deck is usually no match for their finisher. Thundermaw Hellkite or Falkenrath Aristocrat is usually their only flier if they have it.
Really I will recount room for more split cards then, I must of missed a cards when I was transferring across....
edit: Ah ha! I missed Counterflux whille I am at it I"ll edit in my changes.. I decided warped physique wasn't quite good enough more far//aways since I have been impressed.
ok I'll drop searing spear for the full set of turn//burn. I hope to get my hands on aetherling before it shoots up in price as people discover its unbeatable... consequently pithing needles to the sideboard... even if they kill my own aetherlings.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Steam Vents
4 Watery Grave
1 Stensia Bloodhall
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Swamp
Planeswalkers:
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Artifacts:
2 Rakdos Keyrune
Spells:
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Dreadbore
4 Think Twice
2 Rakdos's Return
2 Magmaquake
2 Victim of Night
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Far // Away
2 Turn // Burn
2 Slaughter Games
1 Rise from the Grave
2 Pithing Needle
2 Duress
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Curse of Death's Hold
3 Negate
2 Dispel
Round 1: Jund Aggro (Varolz) 0-2
Round 2: RWB Aristocrats 2-1
Round 3: RWB Aristocrats again 2-0
Ronud 4: Bant Enchant 2-0
Rise from the Grave is the best sideboard card last night, stealing a Boros Reckoner and a Geist of Saint Traft feels good.
Also I want to mention that I tried Augur of Bolas and I hate him in this deck, it might just be me but every time he enters he always shuffles lands or creatures that I need away.
He also makes Turn // Burn a three mana removal spell for irritating creatures like Voice of Resurgence, Boros Reckoner and Thragtusk.
2 Augur of bolas
2 Lone revenant
2 Niv Mizzet, dracogenious
Sorcery
2 pillar of flame
2 mizzium mortars
1 Sever the bloodline
1 Rakdos return
Instant
3 Think twice
2 Syncopate
3 Far//away
3 Turn//burn
2 Izzet charm
2 Magmaquake
2 Forbidden alchemy
2 Counterflux
2 Chandra, the firebrand
1 Nicol bolas, planeswalker
Lands
4 dragonskull summit
2 drowned catacombs
2 steam vents
2 izzet guildgate
2 evolving wilds
2 watery grave
1 blood crypt
1 desolate lighthouse
1 nephalia drowyard
5 island
3 mountain
1 swamp
3 izzet staticaster
3 crypt incursion
2 pithing needle
2 duress
2 slaughter games
2 Evil twin
1 pillar of flame
I am getting super frustrated against Voice of resurgence atm :S.. I feel like i just can't beat it with this deck. I have options but Voice decks also tend to have a ton more threats I have to deal with Boros reckoners Loxodon smiters or thragstusk etc. I am getting super low before stabilisation and getting killed by searing spear, haste creature or the voice token.
I did notice that 9th placed "The Rock" deck at the latest SCG open ran three curse of death's hold perhaps I need to return it to my deck... at least in the sideboard as it does deal with the voice token nice and cleanly.
Staticaster is in my sideboard... there are a lot of decks running bears rather than X/1's.. perhaps my deck is in need of an overhaul curse and staticaster seem rather strong together.
Return to Rakdos keyrune is also an option... but I really don't know what to cut... perhaps I decide control is dead and remove all my anti control cards from the main?. I still seem to run into control often enough atm.
missing a land drop = death which is also really sad since most of the time I have to deal with threats and don't have time to think.... twice.
I hoping for help come M14.
on a more positive note... I love turn//burn and far//away.
and back to a negative one, I am not sure what happend.. a new store/s opened up I think.... and no one turns up for FNM constructed anymore it is only draft FNMs from now on. So I don't get a chance to properly test the deck anymore.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I'll try out 2 curse of death's hold and see how it goes it feels like the best answer to voice.
crypt incursion is life gain and a lot of it.. but reanimator isn't as scary as it used to be. my other deck just happens to be graveyard based so I guess that wieghts the hate perhaps a little too heavily.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own